Amid the controversy surrounding Juan Mata's disallowed goal in the FA Cup, Gab Marcotti explains why criticism of the VAR system is misguided.

Hawk-Eye has blamed a technical error for lines that were not straight being shown during Manchester United's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Huddersfield on Saturday, the latest high-profile Video Assistant Referee controversy.

The company also remains adamant that the match officials were given straight lines to make their decisions with, and not the same ones that were shown to those watching on television.

The VAR system and technology has again been criticised since Juan Mata had a goal disallowed, having been caught narrowly offside, during United's 2-0 victory.

Match referee Kevin Friend had awarded a goal until the VAR's lengthy intervention. There was controversy after those viewing on BT Sport were shown images of Mata's positioning amid wonky lines that created further confusion surrounding the decision.

Hawk-Eye is responsible for providing the technology used within VAR, and said in a statement: "A technical issue led to an incorrect graphic being provided by Hawk-Eye to BT Sport last night.

There was confusion about whether Juan Mata's goal should have stood or not.

"To confirm, the VAR saw the correct image with the correct lines to make the decision. This was a case of the wrong image being provided to the broadcaster and we apologise."

Despite the negative reaction to Saturday evening's fixture in their cup competition, Press Association Sport reports that the Football Association remains satisfied with VAR's contribution since its introduction in January, and recognises it would initially prove difficult to perfect.

It has long been accepted that in the case of offside, the benefit of any doubt would go to the attacking team, but even though Mata was shown to be only fractionally off and despite criticism of the decision, the FA is also satisfied that it should have been disallowed.

United manager Jose Mourinho spoke of his support for VAR, postmatch, while his Huddersfield counterpart David Wagner spoke of his belief it "kills the emotion of the game."

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has since analysed the decision, and he regardless maintains that even though Mata was shown to be offside, the goal should have stood.

"For me that's a goal," he said. "It's so so tight and to be fair to the assistant referee you are never going to see that in real time. We're talking a slight knee cap, perhaps.

"Matthew Wilkes [the linesman] called it absolutely spot on in not raising his flag.

"If it's taking eight and a half minutes to come up with the right image to justify that decision then the goal should be given."